Llewellin Setters Breeders Blog

I have not been able to research the background of Richard Llewellin in any great detail. I find that much of what has been written about him cannot be substantiated from the records. For example the statement that he was of “royal descent”. The Llewellin name appears prominently in all recorded Welsh history but cannot be connected to Richard especially since this was not in fact his inherited surname. What I do know is as follows:

Richard Llewellin Purcell Llewellin was born in 1840 and died in 1925. He is buried in the Churchyard of St. John the Baptist Church in Stapleton, a small village south of Shrewsbury, England. His father was William Purcell of Clifton County Gloucester. He was a cleric.

Richard’s given names were Richard Llewellin Purcell. I do not know if Llewellin was his mother’s name. However Richard was one of three sons and the others were not given the Llewellin name.

He was educated at Exeter College which is one of the colleges of Oxford University. He matriculated (qualified for admission) on Feb.2nd 1860 aged 18. He was awarded his BA degree in 1863 and his MA degree in 1868. Subsequently he studied law at Lincoln’s Inn London (For more information on this historic British Institution go to www.LincolnsInn.org.uk ).

There is no evidence that he actually practiced law or followed any other profession. He was independently wealthy by inheritance and followed the sporting life style. His brother Lionel Thomas Purcell was also a graduate of Exeter in 1872 entering into the church in various locations as Rector and Vicar.

Richard officially changed his name in 1872 when he was 30 years old by adding Llewellin as his surname. The reasons for this are not clear. I have been unable to find or verify the sources of the family fortune but clearly it must have been quite considerable. I have seen his last will and he left about 68,000 English Pounds with his brother as beneficiary. This at a time when industrial workers were glad to work for less than 5 pounds weekly. In today’s currency buying power terms he would certainly have been a multi Millionaire.

Richard was a man of large stature standing about 6 feet 6 inches tall and was apparently quite intimidating in appearance with a full black beard. He never married and from several reports I have seen was somewhat uncomfortable in the presence of the fairer sex. He did have the same housekeeper for many years however and upon his death left his kennel of dogs to her. She sold them quite quickly to Mr. William Humphrey.

Richard had a great passion for bird shooting and gun dogs and both owned and rented shooting moors throughout the British Isles. It was here that he tested and developed his strain of setters to become the sensation they were in his own lifetime.

The history and development of the Llewellin has been recorded very well in the writings of my good friend Alfred King of Arkansas both in his book and on-line. I would refer my readers to his excellent work reproduced here: What is a Llewellin by Alfred King.

KHS Jan 2006